by Marshall Gibson

Created on: April 10, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

The Raconteurs' debut album is not as poppy as allmusic.com makes it sound. Similar to the White Stripes, they display a variety of musical styles that makes a straight listening session pleasurable.

Indeed, it's poppy in an old-fashioned Beatles way, which means it isn't tacky pop. In fact, much of the album is very Beatlesesque, especially with backup vocal harmonies on tracks like Steady, As She Goes', Hands', and Intimate Secretary'. Some riffs sound pretty Led Zeppelinish such as the title track and Level', complements of Jack White's writing style. They even bust out with a ripping organ riff reminiscent of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer on Store Bought Bones'. The album remains somewhat experimental while feeling significantly more mellow than the average White Stripes album (no wild whammy solos and very little fuzz).

What's kinda funny is the bass line was mixed heavily on every track; it's like Jack's compensation for his lack of bass in the White Stripes.

As a footnote, the Raconteurs are much more lively in concert. They crank up the intensity and distortion, and Jack & Brendan park themselves in front of their amplifiers for the sake of squealing in-your-face feedback. Now that's rawk.

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